When I first moved to Melbourne I had no friends. True story. These pancakes are very relevant to this story.
Anyone who has moved countries or states knows this no-friends thing to be a fact of life. You have to meet new people, and rely on the kindness of others. It’s what makes it exciting – you never know who you’re going to meet and connect with.
Fruit and ice cream are my toppings of choice. Fruit equals out the ice cream.
I knew a grand total of three people when I moved to Melbourne. Two of those people were my younger step-sister and her mom.
Both of which I barely knew.
My step-sister’s mom is from America and she also knew the woes of moving and having no friends. So, on weekends they would invite me to their house for sleepovers. It became a nice ritual, and part of that was my sister would make these pancakes for breakfast.
Isn’t that nice?
Not only did they offer friendship, but pancakes on top!
My sister and I would often cook together on these sleepovers, sometimes my recipes, sometimes hers. This was her recipe. You can tell by the buttermilk, Australians don’t tend to use it. She wrote it in my recipe book which you can see below. That was about seven years ago.
These two women have now moved back to America and my sister is off to college this year. I wonder if she’ll make them for her dorm… they’re a great way to make friends. I know I was grateful.
And I still make the pancakes.
Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Butter, for frying
(if you do not have buttermilk substitute all milks for just one cup of normal milk)
Toppings of your choice: fruit salad and ice cream, maple syrup, lemon and sugar. Anything goes.
Method
- Mix all of the above ingredients together.
- Heat a pan on medium heat and add a teaspoon or so of butter, allow to melt.
- Pour in a desired amount of batter, tip pan to spread out.
- When the pancake has bubbles across its uncooked surface, and is lifting at the edges, it’s a good time to try and flip it. Take care. Best of luck if you try to do the whole pan flip thing.
Makes: depends on the size you’re going for, but this recipe feeds two very hungry people and leaves them with very, very full bellies.
Calories: Two very large pancakes pre-toppings (and not including the butter for frying) have 350 calories.
